During my time in Italy I was lucky enough to tour the Vatican with a phenomenal local tour company called Overome, which is owned by a couple of brilliant and highly-educated local women that decided to create a company dedicated to providing tourists with an extremely thorough, in-depth understanding of the most important historical monuments in Rome.
If you book a tour through Overome you can expect a superior guide who has studied what they teach for a very long time, and you’ll definitely come away with a deeper understanding than if you had taken a self-guided tour or chosen a guide that randomly approaches you in the street.
The Vatican Wonders tour lasted approximately 3-hours, and our tour guide was tremendously knowledgeable about every single aspect of what we saw. The tour actually ended up lasting a little over three hours because many of us bombarded the guide with questions that she was more than happy to answer, and her answers to everything were brilliant, even if the question pertained to a remote detail that most people had never heard about.
While there’s absolutely nothing like having an intelligent tour guide who has dedicated their life to studying the subject in higher education, like ours had, another extremely important quality of a great tour guide is animation. A tour guide must be animated while talking and display a great deal of passion for the topic, because if the guide is bored, the tourists are certainly bound to get bored too.
Luckily, our guide had the perfect combination of knowledge and passion, so even after our tour was up, I would have been happy to follow her around for another 3 hours. I have ankle issues and was craving gelato that day (it’s Rome, duh) so for me to say I would have gladly continued the walking tour, it had to have been really good.
One of the striking things to me was how ridiculously opulent and over-the-top most parts of the Vatican were.
It was incredible to consider how much money had been poured into the creation of this place for hundreds of years, mostly by Popes who acted more like kings with massive fortunes to spend, than popes.
Yes, you heard that right. Historically popes had so much power that they were often seen as kings, and many of them did not devote themselves to Catholicism in the same way that popes have in more recent years. This resulted in the Vatican acquiring a massive collection of some of the finest and most expensive art and historical pieces this world has known, among many other things. Lucky for us, our guide knew the story behind every piece we passed, and we couldn’t help but feel completely awe-struck by such an incredible place bleeding history from every square inch.
(Click directly on a photo to see the Vatican museums album in a full-screen slideshow)
If you’ve spent any amount of time in Europe, you’ve probably seen your fair share of churches and cathedrals, and many travelers will even stop seeking them out in new cities, even if they are considered major attractions (oops, I may be guilty of this). I don’t claim to have seen all of the churches or cathedrals in Europe (that would take a lifetime), but I will say you haven’t seen anything until you see La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, or so I thought. I know now that St. Peter’s Basilica is actually the most magnificent church, certainly in terms of size and, in my opinion, beauty. Take heed that once you’ve visited it, every other church you see will pale in comparison.
Note: In case you’re wondering what the difference is, a cathedral is considered the chief church in the local hierarchy of churches, and a basilica is a church that has been given special privileges by the Pope. The four major basilicas in the world are St. Peter, St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major, all of which are located in Rome.
When our guide explained to us that St. Peter’s isn’t just huge, it’s MASSIVE, and that it’s easy to lose perspective inside and not even appreciate how enormous everything is, I tried to prepare myself to take in the enormity of it. Words, however, simply cannot do justice to the sheer size or grandeur of St. Peter’s. It actually leaves you speechless countless times while you’re wondering around.
Keep in mind that all of the beautiful “paintings” you see on the walls and frescoes are not actually paintings, but impeccable mosaics that are so impossibly perfect that they appear to be paintings!
Another thing to note is that Michelangelo’s famous Pietà sculpture is encased by bullet-proof glass after an incident in 1972 when a mentally ill man attacked the sculpture with a hammer, cracking off Mary’s nose and arm. The sculpture is completely restored, but you’ll have a bit of a hard time seeing the impressive details due to both the glass and the throng of tourists that always surrounds it. You’re best bet for admiring the incredibly lifelike sculpture is at the beginning of the Vatican tour, where you’ll get to see an identical copy of the statue up close.
Note: Walking through the basilica at the end of the tour takes at least an hour, so be sure to plan for that.
This tour left absolutely nothing to be desired – there was even someone on it who had been on a tour a few years prior and admitted that he learned a lot.
Remember that you don’t have to be Catholic or even religious at all to enjoy a visit to the Vatican! Approximately 25,000 people a day, or 5 million people per year visit the Vatican, and all of them are of differing types and levels of faith.
The Vatican is a treasure-trove of art, history, controversy and secrets that will continue to fascinate you for years after your tour.
Specifics of the Vatican Wonders Overome Tour:
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Highlights:
The best way to visit the marvels of Vatican City from the Vatican Museums to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica.
An amazing tour with masterpieces of Raphael, Michelangelo and Bernini, guided by an art historian through the most visited museums of Rome.
Avoid the long queue for a half day guided tour where you can enjoy an unforgettable experience across centuries of history.
Language: English
Duration: 3 hours
Small Groups: Max 12 People
Includes: Officially licensed guide – skip the line service – entrance ticket and reservation fees – headsets
Meeting Point: Details can be found on the voucher we provide after booking.
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*Disclosure: This tour was sponsored by Overome in exchange for my fair, honest review. This reflects my actual opinion, as always.*
